Author's Note: SO sorry for the delay, lots of things have taken place. Any
way, thanks to Scotty CF, Son Goku, and Joe for more of their reviews! Its
definitely appreciated.
***Story****
Sonic the hedgehog moved like lightning, his crimson shoes and azure body were but a blur to the human eye. His arms held out for balance, he pushed his body to the limit, leaving everyone behind in his dust. Life was at stake, and this time, it was the entire planet's. It was not as if death would come on swift wings to take them all to another unknown world, but it was as if they were all on the break of being sold into slavery. Robotnik's evil clutches would have them at his disposal, should the Freedom Fighter's fail, and Sonic was one of the many souls out their ready to sacrifice themselves for the well being of the water planet, earth. The sky was cloudy and over cast, filled with dull gray clouds promising rain. Robotropolis would surely experience acid rain, posing an even more danger to the fighters; it was harmful to their skin and fur.
Shadow and Melody were the last in the group, not surprisingly. They had witnessed the terrible evil and pollution in Robotropolis. The dark and dank musty dungeon of hell was the only way to explain the atmosphere within the city's walls. Life, life had no place there. The cold steel and electrical beams of energy in the walls are the only thing the eye can behold. The air is so thick with fumes of gas and fuel, you could barely breathe. It was almost as if Robotropolis had created an area of artificial night. Sun light was a rare thing to see in this terrible place, and the lethal heat was unimaginable. Melody and Shadow were imprisoned for a week in this place of horror, death, and robotics. Not even the most optimistic person could find a reason to be happy in the city of steel. The two hedgehogs kept a slow steady pace in the back of the running troops. There was not a word of hope spoken amongst the terror gripped heroes, they sensed the feeling of impending doom that Shadow had once felt when he was taken from his love to be roboticized. The threat had made its presence known once again, it was no longer just two hedgehogs however, it was the lives of all living, breathing things.
The Freedom Fighters pressed on from the protection of the rural area of Knothole, to the heart of the Mystic Ruins, and finally, on to the very borders of the city of doom. No security cameras scanned the area. No yellow beams that sounded alarms when tripped scanned the many pathways and passages. Not a single swatbot patrolled the area; it was as if the Robotnik had deserted his once dirty domain. Being the first to arrive, Sonic slowed his pace down substantially as he entered the streets of Robotropolis, a lump of fear growing steadily in his throat. He couldn't wait for the Freedom Fighters; he had to find exactly where Eggman was and fast. Revving up his cerulean legs, he zipped through the city, his guard high, and his ears pricked with alertness. The central control room of Robotropolis came into view, its long tower pointing toward the unnaturally dark sky. Without a second thought, he plowed his way up to the main computer, which was beeping madly. Sonic stepped to its main terminal, where a large screen hung on the wall. It was on stand-by, and for some reason, the main power was completely channeled to the south wing of the city. No swatbot factories were in service. "Mondo weird." Muttered Sonic. "If the city itself doesn't hold the weapon we are looking for..then..what does it mean?" Sonic lifted his head slightly, when another thought crossed his racing mind. The others, they had to be arriving by now. There was no time for deep thought. Turning from the main computer, he quickly found his way back to the borders, where the other Freedom Fighters were just arriving. Tails was in front, Strider and Donovan were right behind him. Melody, who was now clinging to Shadow, was brought up by the obsidian hedgehog to the front. No longer did Shadow have such an evil confident look on his face. It was replaced by a distant stare, like he wasn't fully there. Sonic scanned over the future warriors, and turned away again, looking back at the city. Tails stared determinedly up at his idle, ready to fight for all of the living kind. Sonic jogged back into the city's territory, the others close behind.
Meanwhile, in the southern part of Robotropolis, a very confident and happy Robotnik smiled. He knew Sonic and his friends were here, and they would be the first to experience his power and his terror. The pain he was ready to inflict on them would ultimately destroy them. But his real battle, he knew, lay with Sonic and Shadow. The duo would surely fight with a force unseen before, knowing that their freedom and lives were in danger. Rubbing his mustache and settling into the wide cockpit of the gigantic killer machine, the mad doctor would this time be ready for them.
"I've been waiting, for this very moment for so long.." Robotnik muttered. "And to think, when it finally comes, I don't have much to say, but so much to do. Sonic the hedgehog will finally fail; I will finally have him under my control and along with that, the entire planet! Without their precious plane and Master Emerald, they aren't even worthy enough to behold my creation!"
Laughter as cold as ice rang into the air and Robotnik started the ignition. A small warning alarm went off as the main cockpit closed up and Project Annihilation came to life. The missiles were loaded and ready to fire, the large accurate lasers were charged and ready to deliver a devastating blow to his adversaries. The Master Emerald did its job well in powering the weapon of mass destruction. The surface doors opened, ready to release its horror onto the planet. It wouldn't be long before Eggman would confront his long time adversary, and hopefully, it wouldn't be long before he had the honor of eliminating him. As the machine reached its full power, once again a cold deadly laugh rang into the dust filled air, his time had finally come.
In the cover of the cloud cover sky the Egg Carrier hovered, its powerful boosters holding it aloft in the moist air. Metal Sonic strode among the main deck, garnet artificial eyes almost half closed. The scanners had detected the Freedom Fighters entering the city, and though Metal Sonic had no idea what exactly awaited them in this war, he could sense that a very significant and maybe bloody battle would soon erupt. He hadn't heard or seen any sign of his master, Robotnik. But in no way was he complaining. Metal Sonic had become almost neutral, lost in a sea of emotion sparked by a fluke in his programming. No longer was he a cold ruthless creation, set to eliminate life and obey orders. He was now a robot that could make choices and feel. Robotnik was losing his control over him, gradually, but surely. He had let go of the prisoners and even gave into his feelings of anger when Robotnik insulted him, but part of his loyalty remained intact with the devious scientist. The winds swept through the upper deck of the massive giant fortress, further proving that the storm was ready to release its power. Metal Sonic headed back up into the main bridge, where the main controls were. Pressing a few buttons and positioning himself in front of the pilot's chair, he activated the secret code that caused the chair to slide forward, revealing a switch. Stepping on it, the Egg Carrier creaked a few times, but slowly, the wings opened, and rotated, making it ready to increase speed. This also caused the main bridge to be blocked off, and it could only be reached through the Sky Deck. Setting the controls back to autopilot, he accessed the main drive and turned on the main censors. Two probe like robots came from the flying ship and headed through the gathering clouds into the city of darkness. They each held a camera, giving Metal Sonic a clear (well as clear as it could manage) view of Robotropolis. Spotting Sonic and his troops pressing toward the southern part of the city, he stared intently, waiting for something or someone to make its first move.
"Tails, have you got a reading from Nicole yet? I checked the main control room of this city, but all I could find is that everything is shut down accept this part of the city. All the energy is being sent here."
Sonic had slowed his pace again so his loyal side kick Tails could keep up. The young orange fox held Nicole and was typing wildly while scanning the area.
"According to this, there is something about to be launched.."
Sonic's eyes widened.
"Launched?!!"
The words had just left his mouth when the hold city began to shake. The Freedom Fighters quickly came together, and prepared to fight. Shadow took his place at Sonic's side; if faker was going to fight then he was going too as well. Knuckles and Rouge landed behind Sonic and Shadow. The red echidna looked pretty angry, he knew that Robotnik was using his jewel to power this terrible force. Though the Freedom Fighters were ready for the biggest battle of their lives, they weren't prepared for the sight they beheld. Smoke, dust, and more waste imaginable began to spew through the air. Laughter was heard as a gigantic silhouette began to take form in the distance. The sound of metal gears turning and functioning was clearly heard. The sound of a laser charging up could be heard, and radiant beams of light cut through the darkness of the city. Sonic's eyes widened, turning quickly, he cried as loud as his masculine voice could allowed him. "LOOK OUT!" The Freedom Fighters barely had time to move out of the way as a powerful purple laser shot through the air, its heat and power felt by all as it tore through the city, melting metal and causing major explosions. Sonic, Shadow, and many others picked themselves off the ground as the robot charged up for another blast. Tails gasped as he saw five fighters dead on the ground. "Scatter!" he called, and quickly whirled his Tails. Sonic however, bolted head long at the oncoming machine. Amy squealed in horror, and was about to run after her only mate, but Strider was ready for that. Amy ran a few strides, only to be grabbed hard by the collar and thrown backwards. She hit her head hard on a metal wall and was out cold. "Someone get her out of here!!!" Vincent grabbed the fallen hedgehog and rushed her out of there.
Sonic, his eyes narrow with pure anger, zipped like lighting, dodging the small guns and lasers as he ran up the side of the tallest tower in Robotropolis. Eggman kept his robot going forward however, his target and real mission at the moment was make it to the ice cap mountain, then he could carry his plan out fully. Thanks to the hacked information Strider had provided at the Knothole, Sonic was fully aware of Robotnik's mission, and would do anything to stop him. Sonic quickly jumped into the air and curled into a tight ball, his spines stiff and sharp, ready to pierce. Moving like a phantom in the air, he aimed at the machine's massive back. Robotnik only smiled. "Not so fast! Get a load of this!" Pressing a button, the back thrusters immediately burst to life. Baby blue flames burst into the air, producing a terrible heat. Sonic hit them dead on, and was launched hard back into the ground. Tails, who had been watching this all unfold, quickly lead a group of Freedom Fighters to Sonic's location, they had to wake him up.
"AHA! DIRECT HIT!" Screamed Robotnik, shaking with joy as he saw Sonic fall hard to the ground, quite a few burns on his stomach and his right ear badly burned. "THAT'S ONLY A TASTE OF MY POWER!" He laughed again, and increased Project Annihilation's speed. The robot massive feet crushed the small obsolete buildings of the once lively robotic city. It cleared the borders, and it approached the not to distant mountain. Knuckles and Rouge climbed the now partly destroyed control room of the city, and took to the air, flying like they've never flown before. Knuckle's sharp eyes held a terrible rage, five dead, and it was all powered by a gem, a gem that he should of protected. It was his fault that Eggman had gotten this far, and he would do his best to stop it. Rouge kept close at Knuckle's side, her face no longer sassy or arrogant, like it normally was. She longed for Knuckles to be the echidna he used to be, centered on one thing, his home and duty. Now he was terror struck and consumed by rage. He glided at a fast pace and quickly came to the steady paced machine. Robotnik quickly caught him on his radar, designed to detect organic life forms. "Oho! Well if it isn't knucklehead!" Pressing a few buttons, a joystick like lever became visible on the control panel. Robotnik grinned a cold terrible grin as he pushed a red button on top of the slender lever. Missiles implanted in the massive arms of the mechanical structure launched, and quickly homed in on the fighting pair. Rouge shrieked and flapper wings hard, gaining altitude. Knuckles quickly descended. The two homing missiles quickly changed direction and came right at them. Rouge expertly did an air summersault and dodged the attack. Losing its target, the missile did what it was programmed to do, self-destructed.
Knuckles waited until he could practically feel the missile's heat, before digging into the ground swiftly, disappearing in the cold earth. The homing rocket did the same as Rouge's did as Knuckles returned to the surface. Eggman grunted, but paid no mind to the surviving pair, they were knocked off course for now. Knuckles shook himself clean of dirt, and held a fist up in anger toward the weapon, only to be knocked hard out the by a speeding oiled colored blur incased in an orange glow. Shadow would no longer take this, Sonic was down, five people, gone in a blink of a hedgehog's eye. Memories from his tragedy-filled past came to him as he skated across the land. He could see Maria, taking her last few breaths, another scene of them standing together, and yet of another of him banging on the glass, trying desperately to save his only friend. His garnet eyes closed, and he increased his speed, spin dashing, he zipped up to the Robot's massive feet, and grabbed a hold of its metal casing. "What the?!" Robotnik growled as his computers began to beep, indicating something had come aboard. "ALL SYSTEMS, FULL POWER! THRUSTERS ACTIVATE!" The bottom thrusters located in the legs of the mechanical wonder suddenly came to life, lifting the large robot into the air, and then dropping it hard back on the ground. Shadow clung desperately, he would not let go. Robotnik increased the robo's speed, lifted off the ground a few times, but quickly realized the stubbornness on Shadow's part. As soon as the robot stopped moving so violently, he managed to make his way closer to the torso of the gigantic weapon. He knew that with every step the project took, the closer it was to achieving Eggman's goal. Rouge finally recovered from the shock of the homing missile, and saw that Shadow was in danger. Robotnik had stopped trying to shake Shadow off, but her viridian eyes could easily see that Shadow was clinging on for dear life, it wouldn't be long before he lost his grip.
Knuckles also saw the threat, but he couldn't fly like Rouge could, he could only watch from a distance as the majestic ivory bat flew off to aid the black hedgehog. Shadow was indeed slipping, but his garnet eyes kept scanning, he had to find something to either hit of grab on. Robotnik set the controls to steady, and the robot continued to trudge its way closer to its destination. "Its time to get rid of these pets!" he snarled as he headed down to the lower level of the cockpit. Turning on a computer, an image of what was behind the robot came on. Smiling, he decided if he couldn't shake him off, he would burn him off. But he also knew that this move would pay a dear price. The metal wasn't strong enough to take that kind of heat, causing it to melt. This would disable the thrusters, and cause the project to move slower, but he discovered its power source..
Robotnik decided it was for the best, and pushed the button. Alarms sounded in the main area of the robot and the thrusters came on at full power. Shadow felt his hands burn in pain, as the metal quickly became an unbearable temperature. He clenched his teeth, refusing to cry out and fall to the ground. With tears in his eyes from the searing pain, he desperately searched. Just as he was about to fall hard to the ground, he noticed a medium sized panel in the middle of the bot's torso. "Is that...his weakness??" That was Shadow's last thought when he could no longer hold on, his hands finally lost their grip and he fell backwards. He closed his eyes, awaiting the hard impact the ground was sure to bring, when something stopped his fall. "You know, you hedgehogs are much heavier then you look." Said a familiar voice. Shadow opened his eyes, and he couldn't help but smile a little. "Rouge?" Rouge landed slowly on the ground and set Shadow down. "Yeah that's me, and now we're even." Shadow gave Rouge a questioning look; Rouge only smiled. "You saved me from being captured and imprisoned by the military, and I just saved you from a very bad headache." Shadow nodded, and turned his attention back to the weapon. "Rouge, I noticed that this thing has a something located between its thrusters." He stared hard at the moving robo once more. "Which seemed..to have melted. Weird." Rouge looked determinedly at what Shadow indicated and nodded. Without another word, she began to fly off and gain altitude, her speed increasing with every flap of her wing.
Shadow watched on anxiously as she neared her target. Lowering her head and putting all of her speed into her glide, she hit the back panel HARD. The panel was dented. "One more time.." She muttered, and went in for another blow. She hit right on target, and this time, the little metal sheet gave away, revealing a beautiful gem, that could only be, the Master Emerald. "It's its power source!!!!" She yelled, and quickly dove in to retrieve the glowing gem. Robotnik was pretty angry now, he was so close. "COMPUTER! HOW MUCH BACK UP ENERGY DO WE HAVE?!!!" The computer beeped a few times, and showed a meter that read one hundred percent. Robotnik laughed once more, perhaps he wasn't in to much danger if they took back their jewel after all...
"Gutha..!" Sonic mumbled when he woke up by a frantic Tails. He sat up, his senses a bit blurry, but they were already begin to clear up. His right ear hurt terribly, but he ignored it, he had to help the others. "Where is he? WHERE IS ROBOTNIK!" Tails quickly pointed in the direction of rubble and debris. Sonic clenched his fists and took off after him, followed closely by Melody, Tails, and the rest of the Freedom Fighters.
Rouge came back to the back of the weapon, holding her hands out, she touched the Master Emerald, and began to pull with all her might. Knuckles jumped and glided to the robo's legs, and began to climb upwards, he had to aid Rouge. The Master Emerald was stuck hard in the main energy area, and it wouldn't budge. Finally, Rouge became impatient and began to kick it. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!!!" Knuckles demanded when he finally came to Rouge's level. "SAVING THIS GEM, EVEN IF IT MEANS BREAKING IT!" Knuckles looked at the determination in her eyes, frowned, but began to help by punching it with his hard knuckles. They punched and kick cautiously, as to not send the shards in random places, instead, each one of them gathered the pieces and went in for more chunks. Finally, the Master Emerald was dislodged, and the jumped from the mechanical wonder, expected it to slow down and shut off completely.
Sonic, Shadow, and the whole crew were soon and Knuckles's and Rouge's side. "Excellent work guys!!!" Sonic yelled. "I don't think Eggman can get too far without a power source." His hopeful quickly changed into an angry one, when Robotnik's voice over a loud speaker implanted near the head of the robot. "That's where your wrong Sonic hedgehog, the back-up energy is more than enough to get me the last few strides to the mountain. Looks like you've failed." To everyone's horror, Robotnik was right. He was dangerously close to the slope of the mountainside; it would probably take him 4-5 minutes to reach its very peak. Sonic was about to charge off after the mad doctor when Knuckles, who had just restored the Master Emerald, stopped him. "Wait Sonic, you can't take him on in your normal form. You need to transform into Super Sonic!" But Sonic shook his head. "No Knuckles, I can't do that if I don't have the seven chaos emeralds." Knuckles smiled. "I can call them, with this emerald." Shadow stepped up. "I'm fighting too." Knuckles held his hands over the glowing green emerald.
"The servers are the 7 chaos. Chaos is power. Power is enriched by the heart. The controller serves to unify the chaos, only you can do this, CALL THE CHAOS EMERALDS!"
Knuckles chanted as the Master Emerald began to spin wildly. It was bathed in an ivory electrical glow, and 7 different colors could be seen in the distance, coming to his location. They where yellow, green, blue, light blue, silver, red, and light green. Sonic and Shadow held their hands up towards them and quickly closed their eyes. The 7 mysterious jewels began to spin around them, and bring them through a portal of power. Sonic's quills began to pulse with energy and stiffen. They became a radiant gold, and his eyes, a flashing red. Shadow's did the same thing, and when the blinding light subsided, Super Sonic and Hyper Shadow hovered in the air.
Looking at each other, they quickly went after the terrible weapon. Robontik saw them and activated the large lasers. The beams shot through the air, their deadly force felt by both of the flying heroes. However, when they did hit Sonic and Shadow, it only caused them to fly backwards. However, if he could ward them off, he would make it, he was only a few steps away. Sonic swooped in, dodging the massive laser and headed toward the back, Shadow followed. Sonic went at in incredible speed and slammed into the back panel where the Master Emerald once sat. Electricity shot through the robot, indicating a harsh blow to the back up energy. Robotnik bellowed in hatred as Shadow delivered another devastating blow. The meter sunk lower and lower, lasers and rockets fired mercilessly at the two incredible fighters, and though some of them did manage to hit them, it was far to late for Robotnik to recover.
Shadow came around to the front, while Sonic delivered the last and final blow to the back of the robot. The robot began to shake violently, and soon stopped moving all together. Sonic joined Shadow at the front. "Now..its your turn Eggman!" Robotnik snarled and quickly pushed a large green button. Lights and radiant beams began to come to the center of the robot. "IT WON'T MATTER, I'LL AT LEAST DESTROY YOU!!" An incredible ball of energy emerged from the robot's chest. Sonic and Shadow quickly dodged, but it came back around, it homed right in on them. Sonic quickly went upwards, but Shadow dove downwards. At first, they were doing fine, until the ball of energy ascended upwards after Sonic. It was up to Shadow, now, to finish the job. Calling on all of his energy, he came in for the blow that would ultimately destroy the weapon and Eggman, when an ear splitting scream erupted from the sky. "SHAAAAAADDDOW LOOK OUT, THAT THING IS GUIDED!" Shadow turned behind him as the ball of energy came straight at him. He was frozen in fear all at once, it was like it he couldn't move. The ball closed around him, and electrical beams engulfed Shadow. All that could be heard next was the most horrible screaming anyone has ever heard. It was a scream only caused by great pain in destruction. "SHADOW!" cried Sonic as he swooped down to help his comrade, but it was too late. "Good bye, SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG!" called Robotnik, as he pressed a detonation button. The ball exploded, and the screams of Shadow the hedgehog were heard no more. Sonic quickly plowed through the smoke caused by the explosion, but Shadow was no were to be found. Robotnik's laughed erupted into the air. "YOU!!!!!!!!" Screamed Sonic. Before Robotnik could react, He came flying in, his eyes flashing a pure red, his pupils no longer seen. Robotnik's weapon was hit dead on, causing it to shake violently once more. Robotnik quickly sat back in his pilot chair and punched a few buttons into the arm panel. The cock pit opened, ejecting his egg globe out from the robot. Electrical beams shot through the robot, and finally, exploded. Project Annihilation was no more. Sonic felt his super form began to decline as the energy began to run out. Melody and the other Freedom Fighters, who could only watch the whole battle, were devastated by whole scene. Melody cried, Tails was silent, and a few cheered at the fact that they had won against Project Annihilation. But most were like Tails; silent and in shock.
Sonic sunk slowly to the ground as Eggman flew off toward the Egg Carrier. He had won..the planet was saved. But, once again, lives were lost in battle, and the victory wasn't full like it was in the battle with Chaos. Bowing his head slightly, he thought of Shadow one last time before turning back to his troops, who were running up with Knuckles and Rouge in the lead. The crowd cheered and slapped Sonic on the back for doing such a good job in saving the world. However, Sonic only turned away, staring in the sky.
"Sonic?" Tails said.
"Yeah.?"
"Its Shadow..isn't it?"
Sonic nodded. He could easily hear the sobs of Melody increase as he stepped forward some more, gazing in the sky.
"Knuckles, hand me a chaos emerald."
"But Sonic, they don't have enough power to give you your super form back."
"I don't need that. But I need to make sure Robotnik gets his own this time, he will be back to cause more pain. Shadow didn't have to die, and nobody should have, not by him. I will get you Robotnik..this time!"
Knuckles picked up one of the now colorless emeralds, and handed them to Sonic. Sonic held his hand out, and called out two words. "Chaos control!!!" Before he could warp however, Melody grabbed a hold of him. "I'M GOING WITH YOU!"
"MELODY! NO!" Tails cried, and grabbed her. The others grabbed on to Tails, and as a result, they were all transported to the Egg Carrier in one big heap just as Robotnik was landing on the main deck. Metal Sonic stood, watching it all from a distance. The explosion from the Project had damaged the Egg Carrier severely, since the debris had shot in the air. It was barely holding its altitude.
"YOU AGAIN?!" Yelled Robotnik, as he quickly pulled his Egg globe up again. Sonic didn't say a word, he lost his temper for the first time in the whole war, and charge at Eggman in a mindless rage. Tails followed, he knew Sonic couldn't fly, but he couldn't help. Whirling his tails, he become level with Robotnik. Sonic jumped up and grabbed a hold of Tails's hands as he lifted him high in the air. Sonic jumped into the air and quickly did a homing attack. The blow dazed Robotnik. Sonic landed on top of the now shaking Egg globe. "All of these years, buttnik'. I've put up with you, but now I will finish this, FOREVER!!" Sonic spun harder than he ever spun before, light came around him, preparing him for the light speed attack. Robotnik's eyes widened. "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sonic released his strong attack, causing Robotnik's egg globe to go out of control. It spun and was sent forward by the incredible attack, it headed straight for the flying fortress's wing. Melody and the crew where right below the wing, and they got a clear view about what was going to happen. The egg globe gained huge momentum and BAM! Hit the very center of the wing, caused it to break in half. "AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Robotnik was launched off in the distance, and was seen no more.
The wing slowly began to fall. "SCATTER!" called Tails, and immediately everyone began to clear away from the path. Everyone, that is, accept Melody. She stood there, watching it come closer and closer, frozen in shock.
"MELODY! LOOK OUT!!!" cried Tails.
Sonic began running, but he was to far to save her now. Melody awaited for darkness to set in, for her life end that very moment. But instead, she felt something pick her up and pull her out of the way. The being was steel, but warm in a strange way. Her emerald eyes opened. "..Metal Sonic?" Metal Sonic didn't say a thing, he just kept running until he heard the crash of the wing on the deck. He placed her down. Everyone was silent for a moment, they had just seen Robotnik's creation rescue one of their own. Even Sonic was shocked. Before anyone could find their words, the ship began to rapidly lose altitude. "Melody! Come on!" Called Sonic as the group ready themselves to be chaos controlled back to Knothole. "This ship is going to crash!!!" Melody turned back to Metal Sonic. "Come on! Come with us." Metal Sonic stood there, he was actually being asked to go back with them. "You don't have to die here, your free now!" Melody said. Metal Sonic's eyes narrowed, he was free, it was time to let go. Running at Melody's side, everyone linked hands with Sonic and were transported back to the village of Knothole.
Everyone picked themselves up after landing in a heap in the middle of their haven. They all stood in a circle, Metal Sonic in the middle. Everyone had a look of both relief and concern on their faces. Finally, Sonic himself smiled, and began to clap. Tails, and the rest of the survivors soon joined him. Metal Sonic didn't know what to say, so he only did what he was used to doing, stood there and said nothing. Nobody talked much, they constructed a hut in were Metal Sonic could stay in, and Melody bunked with him. Sonic and the crew met in the war room, to discuss the restoration of Station Square. But despite the fact that war and fight with Robotnik was finally over, the thought and sadness of Shadow, still lingered in the hearts of all. Nights and days passed. Many people had left Knothole to take down the rest of Robotropolis and restore Station Square and their lives. Melody preferred to be alone, and Metal Sonic spent most of his time out in the forest.
Sonic and Tails set up a victory party, and all came and attended. There was much dancing and celebration. Melody however, stayed out on the borders, crying silently to herself, she missed Shadow, so much. Hours passed, and the partying continued. Sonic made tons of chili dogs, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. In fact, no body noticed a figure appear in the distant horizon. Everyone that is, accept Melody. Her eyes widened, as the figure began to take shape. He was dark and black, with red streaked quills. His body was battered and a bit burned, but he was moving ok. Tears welled up in her eyes. "...Shadow?" Shadow immediately noticed her, and smiled weakly. Melody screamed so loudly with joy, everyone ran out to see what the deal was, even Metal Sonic. Melody bounded over obstacles and gained speed. Shadow managed to break into a run. They both met and embraced passionately, Melody was crying all over again. Shadow was smiling and holding her tight, tighter than he had ever done before. Everyone was cheering and clapping.
"But how did you..?" Melody began. But Shadow shook his head. "Does it really matter?" Melody smiled, and shook her head. "..No." The crowd gathered in front of the reunited couple, Sonic in the lead. "Welcome back faker." He said sarcastically. Shadow this time laughed. "I see nothing has changed." Sonic shook his head. "Are you joining the party?" Shadow and Melody looked at each other. "I think, we are both ready to go home.." Shadow said. Melody nodded. Sonic and the others nodded. Metal Sonic even was smiling. Shadow nodded toward Metal Sonic's direction, and the robot came forward. "Thanks Melody...thanks for setting me free." Melody smiled. Then, she stepped forward, and put her arms around his neck and gave him the first hug he had ever received. At first, Metal Sonic didn't know what to do and was shocked, but slowly, he returned the embrace. They held each other for a little while, before Melody stepped back. "Stay in touch, Metal Sonic." The robot nodded.
Shadow put his hands on Melody's waist. She turned and kissed him, before they both ran to the top of the hill. Cheers erupted from the crowd, everyone was happy, it had been a true victory after all. Melody turned once more and called out to Metal Sonic, and jumped with Joy. Metal Sonic smiled, and held up a fist. "Thank you..." he whispered. Shadow and Melody turned to each other. "Lets go home, both of us." They said in unison. The two bolted down the hill, and across the land. They never stopped running, and they held each other's hand the whole way back. A beautiful secluded peninsula encased in with perpetual green came into view. Squeezing Melody's hand, Shadow whispered joyfully. "We are home..." Running to the very place, they first met, they settled down. Shadow leaned back against a small tree, and Melody settled in front of him. Resting her head against Shadow's chest, she let the gentle beating of Shadow's heart lure her to sleep. Shadow smiled, pulled her close, and he too fell asleep.
And so, the Freedom Fighters regained their freedom, their lives, and their lost city. As for Sonic, Tails, Strider, Donovan, Metal Sonic, and Vincent, they decided to stay in Knothole, for it truly was their home. The battle was over, they had fought and won. A new day brings new Adventure, but for now, rest easy heroes...
But not so far from the city, a certain human who is over weight and egg like groans and pulls himself free from his mangled Egg globe. He stands with his fist held hide in the air, a look of hell on his face. "This is not over Sonic the hedgehog! Tomorrow is another day!!!!!!!"
The End.......Or is it?
Author's Note: I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed each and everyone one of the chapters. I am so glad I was able to share the story that had been in my mind so long with you. But don't worry, there will be more coming. If you want to help with the Sequel (And yes, there will be one!!!) then post a review with you ideas! Thank you so much for reading, and special thanks to the following people.
Joe
Son Goku
Baby T
TJ The Shadow Freak
Scotty CF
Aliceamyrose
Brandy B
Rock Chick
Niles Chiku
Metara
TCM Sonic Miles Prower
Iluvblue!
Metal Sonica
And to anyone I may have missed.
***Story****
Sonic the hedgehog moved like lightning, his crimson shoes and azure body were but a blur to the human eye. His arms held out for balance, he pushed his body to the limit, leaving everyone behind in his dust. Life was at stake, and this time, it was the entire planet's. It was not as if death would come on swift wings to take them all to another unknown world, but it was as if they were all on the break of being sold into slavery. Robotnik's evil clutches would have them at his disposal, should the Freedom Fighter's fail, and Sonic was one of the many souls out their ready to sacrifice themselves for the well being of the water planet, earth. The sky was cloudy and over cast, filled with dull gray clouds promising rain. Robotropolis would surely experience acid rain, posing an even more danger to the fighters; it was harmful to their skin and fur.
Shadow and Melody were the last in the group, not surprisingly. They had witnessed the terrible evil and pollution in Robotropolis. The dark and dank musty dungeon of hell was the only way to explain the atmosphere within the city's walls. Life, life had no place there. The cold steel and electrical beams of energy in the walls are the only thing the eye can behold. The air is so thick with fumes of gas and fuel, you could barely breathe. It was almost as if Robotropolis had created an area of artificial night. Sun light was a rare thing to see in this terrible place, and the lethal heat was unimaginable. Melody and Shadow were imprisoned for a week in this place of horror, death, and robotics. Not even the most optimistic person could find a reason to be happy in the city of steel. The two hedgehogs kept a slow steady pace in the back of the running troops. There was not a word of hope spoken amongst the terror gripped heroes, they sensed the feeling of impending doom that Shadow had once felt when he was taken from his love to be roboticized. The threat had made its presence known once again, it was no longer just two hedgehogs however, it was the lives of all living, breathing things.
The Freedom Fighters pressed on from the protection of the rural area of Knothole, to the heart of the Mystic Ruins, and finally, on to the very borders of the city of doom. No security cameras scanned the area. No yellow beams that sounded alarms when tripped scanned the many pathways and passages. Not a single swatbot patrolled the area; it was as if the Robotnik had deserted his once dirty domain. Being the first to arrive, Sonic slowed his pace down substantially as he entered the streets of Robotropolis, a lump of fear growing steadily in his throat. He couldn't wait for the Freedom Fighters; he had to find exactly where Eggman was and fast. Revving up his cerulean legs, he zipped through the city, his guard high, and his ears pricked with alertness. The central control room of Robotropolis came into view, its long tower pointing toward the unnaturally dark sky. Without a second thought, he plowed his way up to the main computer, which was beeping madly. Sonic stepped to its main terminal, where a large screen hung on the wall. It was on stand-by, and for some reason, the main power was completely channeled to the south wing of the city. No swatbot factories were in service. "Mondo weird." Muttered Sonic. "If the city itself doesn't hold the weapon we are looking for..then..what does it mean?" Sonic lifted his head slightly, when another thought crossed his racing mind. The others, they had to be arriving by now. There was no time for deep thought. Turning from the main computer, he quickly found his way back to the borders, where the other Freedom Fighters were just arriving. Tails was in front, Strider and Donovan were right behind him. Melody, who was now clinging to Shadow, was brought up by the obsidian hedgehog to the front. No longer did Shadow have such an evil confident look on his face. It was replaced by a distant stare, like he wasn't fully there. Sonic scanned over the future warriors, and turned away again, looking back at the city. Tails stared determinedly up at his idle, ready to fight for all of the living kind. Sonic jogged back into the city's territory, the others close behind.
Meanwhile, in the southern part of Robotropolis, a very confident and happy Robotnik smiled. He knew Sonic and his friends were here, and they would be the first to experience his power and his terror. The pain he was ready to inflict on them would ultimately destroy them. But his real battle, he knew, lay with Sonic and Shadow. The duo would surely fight with a force unseen before, knowing that their freedom and lives were in danger. Rubbing his mustache and settling into the wide cockpit of the gigantic killer machine, the mad doctor would this time be ready for them.
"I've been waiting, for this very moment for so long.." Robotnik muttered. "And to think, when it finally comes, I don't have much to say, but so much to do. Sonic the hedgehog will finally fail; I will finally have him under my control and along with that, the entire planet! Without their precious plane and Master Emerald, they aren't even worthy enough to behold my creation!"
Laughter as cold as ice rang into the air and Robotnik started the ignition. A small warning alarm went off as the main cockpit closed up and Project Annihilation came to life. The missiles were loaded and ready to fire, the large accurate lasers were charged and ready to deliver a devastating blow to his adversaries. The Master Emerald did its job well in powering the weapon of mass destruction. The surface doors opened, ready to release its horror onto the planet. It wouldn't be long before Eggman would confront his long time adversary, and hopefully, it wouldn't be long before he had the honor of eliminating him. As the machine reached its full power, once again a cold deadly laugh rang into the dust filled air, his time had finally come.
In the cover of the cloud cover sky the Egg Carrier hovered, its powerful boosters holding it aloft in the moist air. Metal Sonic strode among the main deck, garnet artificial eyes almost half closed. The scanners had detected the Freedom Fighters entering the city, and though Metal Sonic had no idea what exactly awaited them in this war, he could sense that a very significant and maybe bloody battle would soon erupt. He hadn't heard or seen any sign of his master, Robotnik. But in no way was he complaining. Metal Sonic had become almost neutral, lost in a sea of emotion sparked by a fluke in his programming. No longer was he a cold ruthless creation, set to eliminate life and obey orders. He was now a robot that could make choices and feel. Robotnik was losing his control over him, gradually, but surely. He had let go of the prisoners and even gave into his feelings of anger when Robotnik insulted him, but part of his loyalty remained intact with the devious scientist. The winds swept through the upper deck of the massive giant fortress, further proving that the storm was ready to release its power. Metal Sonic headed back up into the main bridge, where the main controls were. Pressing a few buttons and positioning himself in front of the pilot's chair, he activated the secret code that caused the chair to slide forward, revealing a switch. Stepping on it, the Egg Carrier creaked a few times, but slowly, the wings opened, and rotated, making it ready to increase speed. This also caused the main bridge to be blocked off, and it could only be reached through the Sky Deck. Setting the controls back to autopilot, he accessed the main drive and turned on the main censors. Two probe like robots came from the flying ship and headed through the gathering clouds into the city of darkness. They each held a camera, giving Metal Sonic a clear (well as clear as it could manage) view of Robotropolis. Spotting Sonic and his troops pressing toward the southern part of the city, he stared intently, waiting for something or someone to make its first move.
"Tails, have you got a reading from Nicole yet? I checked the main control room of this city, but all I could find is that everything is shut down accept this part of the city. All the energy is being sent here."
Sonic had slowed his pace again so his loyal side kick Tails could keep up. The young orange fox held Nicole and was typing wildly while scanning the area.
"According to this, there is something about to be launched.."
Sonic's eyes widened.
"Launched?!!"
The words had just left his mouth when the hold city began to shake. The Freedom Fighters quickly came together, and prepared to fight. Shadow took his place at Sonic's side; if faker was going to fight then he was going too as well. Knuckles and Rouge landed behind Sonic and Shadow. The red echidna looked pretty angry, he knew that Robotnik was using his jewel to power this terrible force. Though the Freedom Fighters were ready for the biggest battle of their lives, they weren't prepared for the sight they beheld. Smoke, dust, and more waste imaginable began to spew through the air. Laughter was heard as a gigantic silhouette began to take form in the distance. The sound of metal gears turning and functioning was clearly heard. The sound of a laser charging up could be heard, and radiant beams of light cut through the darkness of the city. Sonic's eyes widened, turning quickly, he cried as loud as his masculine voice could allowed him. "LOOK OUT!" The Freedom Fighters barely had time to move out of the way as a powerful purple laser shot through the air, its heat and power felt by all as it tore through the city, melting metal and causing major explosions. Sonic, Shadow, and many others picked themselves off the ground as the robot charged up for another blast. Tails gasped as he saw five fighters dead on the ground. "Scatter!" he called, and quickly whirled his Tails. Sonic however, bolted head long at the oncoming machine. Amy squealed in horror, and was about to run after her only mate, but Strider was ready for that. Amy ran a few strides, only to be grabbed hard by the collar and thrown backwards. She hit her head hard on a metal wall and was out cold. "Someone get her out of here!!!" Vincent grabbed the fallen hedgehog and rushed her out of there.
Sonic, his eyes narrow with pure anger, zipped like lighting, dodging the small guns and lasers as he ran up the side of the tallest tower in Robotropolis. Eggman kept his robot going forward however, his target and real mission at the moment was make it to the ice cap mountain, then he could carry his plan out fully. Thanks to the hacked information Strider had provided at the Knothole, Sonic was fully aware of Robotnik's mission, and would do anything to stop him. Sonic quickly jumped into the air and curled into a tight ball, his spines stiff and sharp, ready to pierce. Moving like a phantom in the air, he aimed at the machine's massive back. Robotnik only smiled. "Not so fast! Get a load of this!" Pressing a button, the back thrusters immediately burst to life. Baby blue flames burst into the air, producing a terrible heat. Sonic hit them dead on, and was launched hard back into the ground. Tails, who had been watching this all unfold, quickly lead a group of Freedom Fighters to Sonic's location, they had to wake him up.
"AHA! DIRECT HIT!" Screamed Robotnik, shaking with joy as he saw Sonic fall hard to the ground, quite a few burns on his stomach and his right ear badly burned. "THAT'S ONLY A TASTE OF MY POWER!" He laughed again, and increased Project Annihilation's speed. The robot massive feet crushed the small obsolete buildings of the once lively robotic city. It cleared the borders, and it approached the not to distant mountain. Knuckles and Rouge climbed the now partly destroyed control room of the city, and took to the air, flying like they've never flown before. Knuckle's sharp eyes held a terrible rage, five dead, and it was all powered by a gem, a gem that he should of protected. It was his fault that Eggman had gotten this far, and he would do his best to stop it. Rouge kept close at Knuckle's side, her face no longer sassy or arrogant, like it normally was. She longed for Knuckles to be the echidna he used to be, centered on one thing, his home and duty. Now he was terror struck and consumed by rage. He glided at a fast pace and quickly came to the steady paced machine. Robotnik quickly caught him on his radar, designed to detect organic life forms. "Oho! Well if it isn't knucklehead!" Pressing a few buttons, a joystick like lever became visible on the control panel. Robotnik grinned a cold terrible grin as he pushed a red button on top of the slender lever. Missiles implanted in the massive arms of the mechanical structure launched, and quickly homed in on the fighting pair. Rouge shrieked and flapper wings hard, gaining altitude. Knuckles quickly descended. The two homing missiles quickly changed direction and came right at them. Rouge expertly did an air summersault and dodged the attack. Losing its target, the missile did what it was programmed to do, self-destructed.
Knuckles waited until he could practically feel the missile's heat, before digging into the ground swiftly, disappearing in the cold earth. The homing rocket did the same as Rouge's did as Knuckles returned to the surface. Eggman grunted, but paid no mind to the surviving pair, they were knocked off course for now. Knuckles shook himself clean of dirt, and held a fist up in anger toward the weapon, only to be knocked hard out the by a speeding oiled colored blur incased in an orange glow. Shadow would no longer take this, Sonic was down, five people, gone in a blink of a hedgehog's eye. Memories from his tragedy-filled past came to him as he skated across the land. He could see Maria, taking her last few breaths, another scene of them standing together, and yet of another of him banging on the glass, trying desperately to save his only friend. His garnet eyes closed, and he increased his speed, spin dashing, he zipped up to the Robot's massive feet, and grabbed a hold of its metal casing. "What the?!" Robotnik growled as his computers began to beep, indicating something had come aboard. "ALL SYSTEMS, FULL POWER! THRUSTERS ACTIVATE!" The bottom thrusters located in the legs of the mechanical wonder suddenly came to life, lifting the large robot into the air, and then dropping it hard back on the ground. Shadow clung desperately, he would not let go. Robotnik increased the robo's speed, lifted off the ground a few times, but quickly realized the stubbornness on Shadow's part. As soon as the robot stopped moving so violently, he managed to make his way closer to the torso of the gigantic weapon. He knew that with every step the project took, the closer it was to achieving Eggman's goal. Rouge finally recovered from the shock of the homing missile, and saw that Shadow was in danger. Robotnik had stopped trying to shake Shadow off, but her viridian eyes could easily see that Shadow was clinging on for dear life, it wouldn't be long before he lost his grip.
Knuckles also saw the threat, but he couldn't fly like Rouge could, he could only watch from a distance as the majestic ivory bat flew off to aid the black hedgehog. Shadow was indeed slipping, but his garnet eyes kept scanning, he had to find something to either hit of grab on. Robotnik set the controls to steady, and the robot continued to trudge its way closer to its destination. "Its time to get rid of these pets!" he snarled as he headed down to the lower level of the cockpit. Turning on a computer, an image of what was behind the robot came on. Smiling, he decided if he couldn't shake him off, he would burn him off. But he also knew that this move would pay a dear price. The metal wasn't strong enough to take that kind of heat, causing it to melt. This would disable the thrusters, and cause the project to move slower, but he discovered its power source..
Robotnik decided it was for the best, and pushed the button. Alarms sounded in the main area of the robot and the thrusters came on at full power. Shadow felt his hands burn in pain, as the metal quickly became an unbearable temperature. He clenched his teeth, refusing to cry out and fall to the ground. With tears in his eyes from the searing pain, he desperately searched. Just as he was about to fall hard to the ground, he noticed a medium sized panel in the middle of the bot's torso. "Is that...his weakness??" That was Shadow's last thought when he could no longer hold on, his hands finally lost their grip and he fell backwards. He closed his eyes, awaiting the hard impact the ground was sure to bring, when something stopped his fall. "You know, you hedgehogs are much heavier then you look." Said a familiar voice. Shadow opened his eyes, and he couldn't help but smile a little. "Rouge?" Rouge landed slowly on the ground and set Shadow down. "Yeah that's me, and now we're even." Shadow gave Rouge a questioning look; Rouge only smiled. "You saved me from being captured and imprisoned by the military, and I just saved you from a very bad headache." Shadow nodded, and turned his attention back to the weapon. "Rouge, I noticed that this thing has a something located between its thrusters." He stared hard at the moving robo once more. "Which seemed..to have melted. Weird." Rouge looked determinedly at what Shadow indicated and nodded. Without another word, she began to fly off and gain altitude, her speed increasing with every flap of her wing.
Shadow watched on anxiously as she neared her target. Lowering her head and putting all of her speed into her glide, she hit the back panel HARD. The panel was dented. "One more time.." She muttered, and went in for another blow. She hit right on target, and this time, the little metal sheet gave away, revealing a beautiful gem, that could only be, the Master Emerald. "It's its power source!!!!" She yelled, and quickly dove in to retrieve the glowing gem. Robotnik was pretty angry now, he was so close. "COMPUTER! HOW MUCH BACK UP ENERGY DO WE HAVE?!!!" The computer beeped a few times, and showed a meter that read one hundred percent. Robotnik laughed once more, perhaps he wasn't in to much danger if they took back their jewel after all...
"Gutha..!" Sonic mumbled when he woke up by a frantic Tails. He sat up, his senses a bit blurry, but they were already begin to clear up. His right ear hurt terribly, but he ignored it, he had to help the others. "Where is he? WHERE IS ROBOTNIK!" Tails quickly pointed in the direction of rubble and debris. Sonic clenched his fists and took off after him, followed closely by Melody, Tails, and the rest of the Freedom Fighters.
Rouge came back to the back of the weapon, holding her hands out, she touched the Master Emerald, and began to pull with all her might. Knuckles jumped and glided to the robo's legs, and began to climb upwards, he had to aid Rouge. The Master Emerald was stuck hard in the main energy area, and it wouldn't budge. Finally, Rouge became impatient and began to kick it. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!!!" Knuckles demanded when he finally came to Rouge's level. "SAVING THIS GEM, EVEN IF IT MEANS BREAKING IT!" Knuckles looked at the determination in her eyes, frowned, but began to help by punching it with his hard knuckles. They punched and kick cautiously, as to not send the shards in random places, instead, each one of them gathered the pieces and went in for more chunks. Finally, the Master Emerald was dislodged, and the jumped from the mechanical wonder, expected it to slow down and shut off completely.
Sonic, Shadow, and the whole crew were soon and Knuckles's and Rouge's side. "Excellent work guys!!!" Sonic yelled. "I don't think Eggman can get too far without a power source." His hopeful quickly changed into an angry one, when Robotnik's voice over a loud speaker implanted near the head of the robot. "That's where your wrong Sonic hedgehog, the back-up energy is more than enough to get me the last few strides to the mountain. Looks like you've failed." To everyone's horror, Robotnik was right. He was dangerously close to the slope of the mountainside; it would probably take him 4-5 minutes to reach its very peak. Sonic was about to charge off after the mad doctor when Knuckles, who had just restored the Master Emerald, stopped him. "Wait Sonic, you can't take him on in your normal form. You need to transform into Super Sonic!" But Sonic shook his head. "No Knuckles, I can't do that if I don't have the seven chaos emeralds." Knuckles smiled. "I can call them, with this emerald." Shadow stepped up. "I'm fighting too." Knuckles held his hands over the glowing green emerald.
"The servers are the 7 chaos. Chaos is power. Power is enriched by the heart. The controller serves to unify the chaos, only you can do this, CALL THE CHAOS EMERALDS!"
Knuckles chanted as the Master Emerald began to spin wildly. It was bathed in an ivory electrical glow, and 7 different colors could be seen in the distance, coming to his location. They where yellow, green, blue, light blue, silver, red, and light green. Sonic and Shadow held their hands up towards them and quickly closed their eyes. The 7 mysterious jewels began to spin around them, and bring them through a portal of power. Sonic's quills began to pulse with energy and stiffen. They became a radiant gold, and his eyes, a flashing red. Shadow's did the same thing, and when the blinding light subsided, Super Sonic and Hyper Shadow hovered in the air.
Looking at each other, they quickly went after the terrible weapon. Robontik saw them and activated the large lasers. The beams shot through the air, their deadly force felt by both of the flying heroes. However, when they did hit Sonic and Shadow, it only caused them to fly backwards. However, if he could ward them off, he would make it, he was only a few steps away. Sonic swooped in, dodging the massive laser and headed toward the back, Shadow followed. Sonic went at in incredible speed and slammed into the back panel where the Master Emerald once sat. Electricity shot through the robot, indicating a harsh blow to the back up energy. Robotnik bellowed in hatred as Shadow delivered another devastating blow. The meter sunk lower and lower, lasers and rockets fired mercilessly at the two incredible fighters, and though some of them did manage to hit them, it was far to late for Robotnik to recover.
Shadow came around to the front, while Sonic delivered the last and final blow to the back of the robot. The robot began to shake violently, and soon stopped moving all together. Sonic joined Shadow at the front. "Now..its your turn Eggman!" Robotnik snarled and quickly pushed a large green button. Lights and radiant beams began to come to the center of the robot. "IT WON'T MATTER, I'LL AT LEAST DESTROY YOU!!" An incredible ball of energy emerged from the robot's chest. Sonic and Shadow quickly dodged, but it came back around, it homed right in on them. Sonic quickly went upwards, but Shadow dove downwards. At first, they were doing fine, until the ball of energy ascended upwards after Sonic. It was up to Shadow, now, to finish the job. Calling on all of his energy, he came in for the blow that would ultimately destroy the weapon and Eggman, when an ear splitting scream erupted from the sky. "SHAAAAAADDDOW LOOK OUT, THAT THING IS GUIDED!" Shadow turned behind him as the ball of energy came straight at him. He was frozen in fear all at once, it was like it he couldn't move. The ball closed around him, and electrical beams engulfed Shadow. All that could be heard next was the most horrible screaming anyone has ever heard. It was a scream only caused by great pain in destruction. "SHADOW!" cried Sonic as he swooped down to help his comrade, but it was too late. "Good bye, SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG!" called Robotnik, as he pressed a detonation button. The ball exploded, and the screams of Shadow the hedgehog were heard no more. Sonic quickly plowed through the smoke caused by the explosion, but Shadow was no were to be found. Robotnik's laughed erupted into the air. "YOU!!!!!!!!" Screamed Sonic. Before Robotnik could react, He came flying in, his eyes flashing a pure red, his pupils no longer seen. Robotnik's weapon was hit dead on, causing it to shake violently once more. Robotnik quickly sat back in his pilot chair and punched a few buttons into the arm panel. The cock pit opened, ejecting his egg globe out from the robot. Electrical beams shot through the robot, and finally, exploded. Project Annihilation was no more. Sonic felt his super form began to decline as the energy began to run out. Melody and the other Freedom Fighters, who could only watch the whole battle, were devastated by whole scene. Melody cried, Tails was silent, and a few cheered at the fact that they had won against Project Annihilation. But most were like Tails; silent and in shock.
Sonic sunk slowly to the ground as Eggman flew off toward the Egg Carrier. He had won..the planet was saved. But, once again, lives were lost in battle, and the victory wasn't full like it was in the battle with Chaos. Bowing his head slightly, he thought of Shadow one last time before turning back to his troops, who were running up with Knuckles and Rouge in the lead. The crowd cheered and slapped Sonic on the back for doing such a good job in saving the world. However, Sonic only turned away, staring in the sky.
"Sonic?" Tails said.
"Yeah.?"
"Its Shadow..isn't it?"
Sonic nodded. He could easily hear the sobs of Melody increase as he stepped forward some more, gazing in the sky.
"Knuckles, hand me a chaos emerald."
"But Sonic, they don't have enough power to give you your super form back."
"I don't need that. But I need to make sure Robotnik gets his own this time, he will be back to cause more pain. Shadow didn't have to die, and nobody should have, not by him. I will get you Robotnik..this time!"
Knuckles picked up one of the now colorless emeralds, and handed them to Sonic. Sonic held his hand out, and called out two words. "Chaos control!!!" Before he could warp however, Melody grabbed a hold of him. "I'M GOING WITH YOU!"
"MELODY! NO!" Tails cried, and grabbed her. The others grabbed on to Tails, and as a result, they were all transported to the Egg Carrier in one big heap just as Robotnik was landing on the main deck. Metal Sonic stood, watching it all from a distance. The explosion from the Project had damaged the Egg Carrier severely, since the debris had shot in the air. It was barely holding its altitude.
"YOU AGAIN?!" Yelled Robotnik, as he quickly pulled his Egg globe up again. Sonic didn't say a word, he lost his temper for the first time in the whole war, and charge at Eggman in a mindless rage. Tails followed, he knew Sonic couldn't fly, but he couldn't help. Whirling his tails, he become level with Robotnik. Sonic jumped up and grabbed a hold of Tails's hands as he lifted him high in the air. Sonic jumped into the air and quickly did a homing attack. The blow dazed Robotnik. Sonic landed on top of the now shaking Egg globe. "All of these years, buttnik'. I've put up with you, but now I will finish this, FOREVER!!" Sonic spun harder than he ever spun before, light came around him, preparing him for the light speed attack. Robotnik's eyes widened. "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sonic released his strong attack, causing Robotnik's egg globe to go out of control. It spun and was sent forward by the incredible attack, it headed straight for the flying fortress's wing. Melody and the crew where right below the wing, and they got a clear view about what was going to happen. The egg globe gained huge momentum and BAM! Hit the very center of the wing, caused it to break in half. "AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Robotnik was launched off in the distance, and was seen no more.
The wing slowly began to fall. "SCATTER!" called Tails, and immediately everyone began to clear away from the path. Everyone, that is, accept Melody. She stood there, watching it come closer and closer, frozen in shock.
"MELODY! LOOK OUT!!!" cried Tails.
Sonic began running, but he was to far to save her now. Melody awaited for darkness to set in, for her life end that very moment. But instead, she felt something pick her up and pull her out of the way. The being was steel, but warm in a strange way. Her emerald eyes opened. "..Metal Sonic?" Metal Sonic didn't say a thing, he just kept running until he heard the crash of the wing on the deck. He placed her down. Everyone was silent for a moment, they had just seen Robotnik's creation rescue one of their own. Even Sonic was shocked. Before anyone could find their words, the ship began to rapidly lose altitude. "Melody! Come on!" Called Sonic as the group ready themselves to be chaos controlled back to Knothole. "This ship is going to crash!!!" Melody turned back to Metal Sonic. "Come on! Come with us." Metal Sonic stood there, he was actually being asked to go back with them. "You don't have to die here, your free now!" Melody said. Metal Sonic's eyes narrowed, he was free, it was time to let go. Running at Melody's side, everyone linked hands with Sonic and were transported back to the village of Knothole.
Everyone picked themselves up after landing in a heap in the middle of their haven. They all stood in a circle, Metal Sonic in the middle. Everyone had a look of both relief and concern on their faces. Finally, Sonic himself smiled, and began to clap. Tails, and the rest of the survivors soon joined him. Metal Sonic didn't know what to say, so he only did what he was used to doing, stood there and said nothing. Nobody talked much, they constructed a hut in were Metal Sonic could stay in, and Melody bunked with him. Sonic and the crew met in the war room, to discuss the restoration of Station Square. But despite the fact that war and fight with Robotnik was finally over, the thought and sadness of Shadow, still lingered in the hearts of all. Nights and days passed. Many people had left Knothole to take down the rest of Robotropolis and restore Station Square and their lives. Melody preferred to be alone, and Metal Sonic spent most of his time out in the forest.
Sonic and Tails set up a victory party, and all came and attended. There was much dancing and celebration. Melody however, stayed out on the borders, crying silently to herself, she missed Shadow, so much. Hours passed, and the partying continued. Sonic made tons of chili dogs, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. In fact, no body noticed a figure appear in the distant horizon. Everyone that is, accept Melody. Her eyes widened, as the figure began to take shape. He was dark and black, with red streaked quills. His body was battered and a bit burned, but he was moving ok. Tears welled up in her eyes. "...Shadow?" Shadow immediately noticed her, and smiled weakly. Melody screamed so loudly with joy, everyone ran out to see what the deal was, even Metal Sonic. Melody bounded over obstacles and gained speed. Shadow managed to break into a run. They both met and embraced passionately, Melody was crying all over again. Shadow was smiling and holding her tight, tighter than he had ever done before. Everyone was cheering and clapping.
"But how did you..?" Melody began. But Shadow shook his head. "Does it really matter?" Melody smiled, and shook her head. "..No." The crowd gathered in front of the reunited couple, Sonic in the lead. "Welcome back faker." He said sarcastically. Shadow this time laughed. "I see nothing has changed." Sonic shook his head. "Are you joining the party?" Shadow and Melody looked at each other. "I think, we are both ready to go home.." Shadow said. Melody nodded. Sonic and the others nodded. Metal Sonic even was smiling. Shadow nodded toward Metal Sonic's direction, and the robot came forward. "Thanks Melody...thanks for setting me free." Melody smiled. Then, she stepped forward, and put her arms around his neck and gave him the first hug he had ever received. At first, Metal Sonic didn't know what to do and was shocked, but slowly, he returned the embrace. They held each other for a little while, before Melody stepped back. "Stay in touch, Metal Sonic." The robot nodded.
Shadow put his hands on Melody's waist. She turned and kissed him, before they both ran to the top of the hill. Cheers erupted from the crowd, everyone was happy, it had been a true victory after all. Melody turned once more and called out to Metal Sonic, and jumped with Joy. Metal Sonic smiled, and held up a fist. "Thank you..." he whispered. Shadow and Melody turned to each other. "Lets go home, both of us." They said in unison. The two bolted down the hill, and across the land. They never stopped running, and they held each other's hand the whole way back. A beautiful secluded peninsula encased in with perpetual green came into view. Squeezing Melody's hand, Shadow whispered joyfully. "We are home..." Running to the very place, they first met, they settled down. Shadow leaned back against a small tree, and Melody settled in front of him. Resting her head against Shadow's chest, she let the gentle beating of Shadow's heart lure her to sleep. Shadow smiled, pulled her close, and he too fell asleep.
And so, the Freedom Fighters regained their freedom, their lives, and their lost city. As for Sonic, Tails, Strider, Donovan, Metal Sonic, and Vincent, they decided to stay in Knothole, for it truly was their home. The battle was over, they had fought and won. A new day brings new Adventure, but for now, rest easy heroes...
But not so far from the city, a certain human who is over weight and egg like groans and pulls himself free from his mangled Egg globe. He stands with his fist held hide in the air, a look of hell on his face. "This is not over Sonic the hedgehog! Tomorrow is another day!!!!!!!"
The End.......Or is it?
Author's Note: I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed each and everyone one of the chapters. I am so glad I was able to share the story that had been in my mind so long with you. But don't worry, there will be more coming. If you want to help with the Sequel (And yes, there will be one!!!) then post a review with you ideas! Thank you so much for reading, and special thanks to the following people.
Joe
Son Goku
Baby T
TJ The Shadow Freak
Scotty CF
Aliceamyrose
Brandy B
Rock Chick
Niles Chiku
Metara
TCM Sonic Miles Prower
Iluvblue!
Metal Sonica
And to anyone I may have missed.